Illuminated sign



J. HOTCHNER.

ILL-UMINATED SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 19, I919.

PatentedSept. 12, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

TTORNEY. I

' the establishmentor the'.' ki'nd ofan estab lishment, as, for example, bakery,- is usually Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

UNHED stares JOSEPH HOTGHNEROF SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA.

ILLUMINATED sien.

Application filedDeeember 19,11,919. Serial No. 346,162. I

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH HQTCHNER,

citizenof-the United States, residing-at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco, State of California, have inventeda 'new and useful Illuminated Sign, of'which the" following is a'specificati'on in such 'full and clear terms 'as will enable those'skilled in the art to oonstructand use'the same.

This 111VGI1tlOI1' relates to" an illumlnated sign and its object is to provide' neans whereby 'oneor more panels of a sign may be illuminated fromdar'rips carried by the sign which are'concealed from view-'in'order to reflect the-light from the signpan'el' and which panel may be detached from their position on the sign 'bodyand' others substituted therefor in order toprovide varied reading matter.

A :Eurther'object of the invention is to provide means whereby the sidewalk may formed in the sign body with permanent letters which cannot be varied, but that most establishments have special salesor special events to advertise, and that it is frequently necessary to use advertising p'anelsof different types in conjunction with the store name, and in the present instance tlieseipan els are applied either above or below the sign or both above and below the si'gnas I t p trated"at"21,' "22,t'o' hold theiupper "en-ds"of may be desired.

Otherobjects'of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

An embodimentof the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in' which the same referencenumeral isapplied t0 the same portion throughout, but I" am aware that there may be modifications thereof. v Figure 1 is aperspective, view of a portion of a sign sho-wing the interior construction thereof, and showing-"the detachable sign panels used therewith,

-' F i'giire Qis a transverse'sectional' view of the sign shown in Figure 1,

It'will be understood by F gure '3 is a perspective view ofa -'sign having exposed lamps with detachable panels above and below the main signbody,

Figure 4 is a transverse sectio'na-l view of a modified form of the -invention' in which a slngle rigid panel is used" above "and below the main sign body, '1 1 Figure 5 is aper'sp'ective view of aportlO ll of an awning having this sidewalk and panel lighting "system applied thereto," and F gure Gis'a sectional view of'a lower -pQIt10Il: of a sign showing thefiuse oftwo panelsin connection therewith. I H

The sign body consists'of two s'ideniembers 1 and 2, are. connected by "t'hetwo, V shaped members 4 at'top aii'dbOt tom' respectively and 's'aidside members have letterso and offfanyfdesijred character formed in one-"side or both sidesas I'naybe desired.

port 7 connected 1 to'the sign sides'bymeans of brackets 8f and Qwhich support carries a suitable number ofla'mps"of" which' the lamps 10 and ll'ai'e illiistrated, saidlanips being fonthe' purpose of illuminating the letters carried' by the Sign body"from -'the inside. y

At the top ofthe 'signbodythe're is a' box shaped member having sides 13, 145C011- nected b-y the'narrowfbbttom"plate 15"and' wider top p-late 16. The sides 13, 14' have their lower edges bent up to form a ledge as indicated" at 17' and" 18 to Freoeive the" lower edge of thechangeablesign panels 19 and 20,

and the upper edges of said sign parielsare' bent over to roman elongated ne'er as illus said sign 1 panels snugly against the" s'ides- 13, "14:. The upper sign pa'nelis held 'in plaice by a through the main si'gn body and extend through a lowerdo-uble Sign support "in -''invertedV shapefhavi'iig sides" asfindi'c'ated at ave-manages 27, '28 to receivesig'jnpanels ."p anel 30 has itsiup 'eredge-hooked-o er as Installed within the sign body' 'is gf ii l terminate at the top 16 in order to drain any water that may collect thereon away and in order to drain any water that may pass into the V shaped member 3 the pipes have holes at 32.

In order to illuminate the upper panels lights are installed in the member 3 as indicated at 33 and in order to illuminate the lower panels lights are installed within the member 4 as indicated at 34, while to illuminate the sidewalk lights are installed be tween the members 25 and 26 in such number as may be necessary as indicated at 35.

It is to be noted that such signs as these are ordinarily hung up at a distance of 12 to 14L feet from the sidewalk and that when viewed from a distance of from 30 to 40 feet to one side thereofthat the lights 33 to 35 inclusive are concealed from view, and. that while the signs they illuminate are brought clearl into view, the lights are not seen directly until the observer comes close under the sign.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 3 the sign body 40 is substantially the same as the sign body shown in the first form of the invention save that the lights 41 in such number as may be desired outline the characters on the sign body, while the panels 42 to 45 inclusive are illuminated by the lamps 46, 47, precisely as in the previous form of the invention, and under the cover of the support for the sign panels 4E243 the lamps 48 are installed to illuminate the sidewalk.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 4 the sign body is indicated at 50, and it has lamps 51 installed within the same for the illumination of the latter plates 5253, while above the sign there is a single sign panel 54;, another single sign panel 55 being supported below the main sign body. These two sign panels are illuminated from the lamps 56, 57, the same as in the other forms of the invention, and it is to be ob served that the inside of the sign as well as the outside of the sign in the top and bottom troughs is painted White in order to reflect the light from the lamps to the several sign panels.

The numeral 60 indicates an awning commonly used over the entrances to hotels and theaters, which awning carries any suitable reading matter as the letters 61; and concealed thereunder on the edges thereof are the lamps 62. Said lamps are positioned as to be concealed from persons at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet from the sign; while they illuminate the panels 63, 64 carried by the supports 65, 66. Said supports are substantially the same as those shown in the previous form of the invention,

These supports are carried by depending rods 67 68, 69, connected to the awning 60.

the concealed troughing within which the panel illuminating lights 73 are concealed, as indicated at 7 1. Suitable rods 75 support the panel members 76, 77, below the sign body 72, and these members carry two ledges 78, 79.

Each ledge supports a panel as indicated at 80, 81, the upper edges of said panels being hooked over as indicated at 82, 83, to

hold them in place; while on the support 76, the panel 84 is the same as the panel 81.

The panel 85 consists simply of a flat plate the upper edge of which extends under the flange 83 on the upper edge of the, therefor panel 80.

WVhat I claim is as follows, but various modifications may be made in the construc tion shown in the drawings and above particularly described form, within the purview of my invention.

1. An illuminated sign comprising a sign body, illuminated characters carried thereby, a trough in the upper and lower portion of the sign body, supports above and below the sign, a sign panel carried by each support, means to detachably hold other sign panels in place against the support and at an angle to the face of the sign body, and lamps in. each trough for illuminating the dctachable sign panels.

2. An illuminated sign comprising a sign body, illuminated characters carried thereby, the sign body having an open trough on one edge, supports carried by the sign body adjacent the open trough, sign panels carried by the support, means on one of the panels to secure another panel detachably thereto, and lamps in the trough to illuminate the detachable sign panels.

3. An illuminated sign. comprising a sign body carrying illuminated characters, a tubular support extending above and below the sign, sign panels carried by the support, and means to light said panels, the tubular support having openings therethrough for draining any water collected on the upper portions of the sign therethrough.

4. A sign body, a series of partially concealed lights at the lower edge of the sign body, a support, and a detachable sign carried by the support having a flanged ledge and adapted to be illuminated by the lamps.

5. A sign body carrying characters, partially concealed lamps in the lower edge of the sign body, a support carrying a sign panel positioned below the lamps to be illuminated thereby, two detachable signs 5 carried by the panel ;one sign having a flange extending over the other sign for holding the latter in place, and other lamps below the sign panel for illuminating the sidewalk. v

1 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 10 my hand this 1st dayof December, A. D. 1919. 1 it JOSEPH HOTGHNER. 

